The Papers of Benjamin Franklin is a collaborative effort by a team of scholars at Yale University, American Philosophical Society and others who have searched, collected, edited, and published the numerous letters from and to Benjamin Franklin, and other works, especially those involved with the American Revolutionary period and thereafter. The publication of Franklin's papers has been an ongoing production since its first issue in 1959, and is expected to reach nearly fifty volumes, with more than forty volumes completed as of 2022. The costly project was made possible from donations by the American Philosophical Association and Life magazine.

Of the sources used to cover Franklin's life, Franklin biographer Henry Brands has maintained that the major source for Franklin's life among historians are his own correspondence and writings, and in particular, Franklin's autobiography. He considers The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, "by far the best" and "a model of scholarly editing". Biographer Walter Isaacson has referred to The Papers of Benjamin Franklin as "definitive and extraordinary" noting that while several publications of Franklin's papers exist, this ongoing publication is the most complete and scholarly. The first editor to amass and organize the papers was Leonard W. Labaree, beginning in 1959. Since then a good number of editors have and continue to oversee this task. Works and collections other than the continuing Yale/APS publication have also been published and are nominally featured here.

During Franklin's adult life, as a learned man, he saved his correspondence and other writings with posterity in mind. When he embarked for France in 1776, he entrusted his many papers, contained in a large chest, which included his correspondence while in England and the manuscript of his Autobiography, to his old friend, Joseph Galloway, who kept them at his home in Trevose Manor aside Philadelphia. Upon the occupation of Philadelphia by the British, Galloway's estate was searched and confiscated and in the haste Franklin's papers were scattered about in and outside the house, where some were destroyed by the weather. Though a good friend with Franklin and other patriots who were advocating American independence, Galloway remained an unyielding Loyalist, and in June 1778 fled Philadelphia with the British, leaving, among other things, Franklin's papers behind. When Franklin learned of Galloway's situation and of the seizure on his estate, he became apprehensive about what had become of his papers and wrote to his son-in-law, Richard Bache, about matters. Bache followed up and discovered the trunk, which had been broken open and with some of its papers scattered about. Bache collected all that he could, and in a letter of June 20, 1781 informed Franklin of his discovery and effort. Franklin wrote back repeatedly to Bache, urging him to look further, but to no avail. Subsequently, some of Franklin's letters, pamphlets and manuscripts from before 1775 were irretrievably lost. Historian, and one of the early documentary editors of The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Whitfield Bell, said that it was a "marvel" that any of the Franklin's papers entrusted to Galloway had survived at all.

The original papers of Benjamin Franklin are the property of approximately three hundred owners. About one-third of them are private individuals which include both the descendants of Franklin and his correspondents, while other owners include autograph, book and manuscript collectors. The other two thirds of the Franklin papers belong to institutions, including libraries, historical societies, public archives, or other such institutions. In 1954, various institutions came together and offered their collections of Franklin papers for photo-copying by a full-time editorial staff working at the editorial headquarters situated within the Yale University Library, where they continue to be collated and prepared for publication.

The Papers of Benjamin Franklin was established in 1953 under the joint auspices of American Philosophical Society and Yale University, both of whom were in possession of thousands of Franklin's letters and other writings. Historian Carl Becker maintains that Franklin "was acquainted personally or through correspondence with more men of eminence in letters, science and politics than any other man of his time". Historian John Bach McMaster, who wrote extensively about Franklin's letter writing, characterized Franklin as "a man of letters". Franklin biographer, Carl Van Doren, said of Franklin that, "letter writing with him was a form of art".

Beginning in 1951, the National Historical Publications Commission listed sixty-six prominent Americans whose writings they considered "of such outstanding importance that they need to be published", with the expectation that they would provide invaluable insights into American history. Benjamin Franklin's name was at the top of that list. Many historians were in agreement with that assertion, in that no American during the eighteenth century had influenced his age and country, or made greater contributions in many varied aspects, than Franklin had. During the first half of the twentieth century, many of Franklin's letters and documents had come to light but existed as separate collections, or in private and public libraries and other institutions. As such, it was deemed necessary to record and compile this scattered conglomeration of papers and amass and sort them into one large publication and made available to all historians, scholars and students.

The project was first funded by a donation of $425,000 from Life Magazine (equivalent to $5,032,362 in 2024), and $175,000 from the American Philosophical Society, and later by grants from foundations, individuals, and from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The project to publish Franklin's thousands of papers and other documents began in 1952 at the home of Alfred Whitney Griswold, Yale University's president, where the extensive collection of William Mason Smith at the Sterling Memorial Library was discussed. In autumn of that year, advice from Leonard W. Labaree, a member of the Yale history department for 42 years, was requested, with the hopes that a new edition of Franklin's papers would result. The Franklin project was inspired by a similar project involving the papers of Thomas Jefferson at Princeton University. Labaree made it clear that no such project could reach fruition without the full cooperation of the American Philosophical Society. Several meetings were held in Philadelphia, under the auspices of Society president, Justice Owen J. Roberts, an agreement was made and the joint sponsorship formally established in 1953. Editors and editorial offices were selected and on the 248th anniversary of Franklin's birth a public announcement was made about the commencement of the project. The Director of Yale University Press, Chester Kerr, gave assurances that nothing but the best printing, design and materials would be employed in the production of the Franklin Papers. A comprehensive listing of the Franklin Papers can be viewed at the National Archives.